Numbness after L4/L5 microdiscectomy- tell me it goes away??

Hi all,

Just an update since my previous post - I had a discectomy/decompression of L4/L5 in May 2014; post op, the sciatic pin has pretty much all gone, however I do have almost constant/permanent paraesthesia (pins & needle/numbness) in my right foot - I have just had a follow-up with my consultant (which should have been in June 2015, but we won't go there!) and he has decided that I should have an MRI "to see what is happening in my back" as he put it - I've just had the MRI, and now waiting for the follow-up; the paraesthesia has a detrimental effect on my life, in that when walking, it is almost as if I have an elephant foot, in that there is very little control of my right foot, it gives me no 'leverage' and it feels as if I'm just 'thumping' that foot into the ground, rather than it help me walking - additionally, I have severe pain in my calf muscles after walking for no more than about 30-50 metres - hopefully, this MRI scan will come up with some answers, some of which may be beneficial to me

Will keep you posted as and when 

sounds like I should follow up with doc again.  wonder if there is scar tissue

 

Hi Michelle,

I had a microdiscectomy back in December 21, 2015 right before my 18th birthday ( today marks the 4 month post surgery mark ). I still have pain running down my right leg ( upper glut and in my calf muscle ). Before the surgery I have had the disc pinching on my nerve for nearly 10 months.... It ruined my summer and I couldn't do what most of my friends were doing... My parents were too scared that something would go wrong with the surgery, so we tried Physical Therapy for about 2-3 months. My pain was getting worse and worse. After alot of convincing I got my parents to allow me to get the surgery ( No regrets at all ). I would rate my pain before my surgery as 9/10 and now after my surgery I rate it as 5/10. I can't even remember how it feels to have no pain... It is constant and doesn't go away ( I feel better when I lie down on my back or stomach ).. I feel better when I sleep on the ground rather than on my, what used to be comfortable, bed.... I am starting to lose hope on ever feeling better... Everytime I walk I have pain in my upper right glut ( everytime I extend my right foot ) and sometimes it goes down my right leg to my calf.... I still can't bend down without a massive amount of pain running down my right leg... I can't even sit down for longer than 15 minutes because I start to have a lot of pain in my calf... How are you feeling now? Is there pain when you extend your foot? From 1-10 how good do you feel? ( rate 1-10 before and after the surgery please) Thanks for your time and I hope your numbness goes away!

Hi Michelle,

I also had microdiscectomy on L4/L5, back in August 2015.

This was after months of going through the usual pain relief and physio route, but fortunately, I was finally referred for an MRI scan, as my leg and back pain wouldn't go away. Following the MRI I was admitted to have an emergency case and underwent an operation to remove some of the offending disc, I was told it was a wonder I could even walk and if the operation wasn't performed straight away, I risked living the rest of my life wheelchair bound.

The operation did relieve my leg pain immediately and I was up and about within hours of the operation, but it did leave me with more numbness in the toes in my left foot than before, plus the middle toes in my right foot were now a bit numb, when previously this wasn't the case, but things were a definite improvement on how I felt before the operation.

I was told by the Consultant that this numbness should go away over time, however, the numbness has unfortunately got worse and the heel on my left foot is now also painful as well as being numb and the numbness has moved up my calf, so that walking any distance has become an issue, as my foot feels a bit like a lump of wood. I think this has also created a problem with my left leg, as I am putting too much pressure on my joints, making my knee and ankle swell.

I had an appointment with the Consultant, with I think a view to discharging me from his care, but I told the consultant things were still not right, fortunately he somewhat reluctantly agreed that I should have a second MRI scan, which looked very much like the first one I had and proved that the disc was still putting a lot of pressure on my spinal chord.

I was given a pre operation appointment, thinking that with this happening, I should soon be on the operating table again, to get this sorted out once and for all, unfortunately, I was way off the mark with my thoughts on how soon an operation would take place, when the operations booking woman told me that it would be 6 months before another operation. I then decided to go private, with a different consultant and this has speeded things up considerably, as my operation will take place in the next couple of weeks. 

Hopefully, this time it will be a complete success, although my new consultant tells me it's now only an 80% success rate for a second operation (first operation I was told it was 90% success rate).

I have to say that, on reflection, I’m glad I had the original operation, as I am definitely better for it and I would advise anyone with a similar problem to go for it, but hopefully, that wouldn’t involve having to go through a second operation.

In September 2011, I had L4, L5 & S1 fused due to injuring my back in April of 2011. I tried everything for 6 months, except physical herapy, which was never offered to me. I went to a chiropractor, had injections, took Loritabs, so I finally gave in to surgery. This was the worse thing that I could have ever done.  The morning after surgery, the nurses came to get me up and I had no use of my left leg. I did not receive any physical therapy at all but after three days was transported to a rehab hospital for skilled nursing. I received about 30 minutes a day of therapy. Then I had 6 weeks of home health care therapy and she taught me to walk again. It has been almost 5 years, I walk with a very pronounced limp and have to use a cane. I have been to 3 other doctors to see if anything can be done. During the surgery my motor nerves for my left leg were damaged and my left foot and toes are numb. Please get second and third opinions before having surgery on your back. I had a catering business, which I had to close and lost thousands of dollars in my investment. I was told by one doctor that if I had been given physical therapy and continued with the steroid injections that my back would have probably healed without surgery. I went to get a second opinion but there was no exam, the doctor told me that my surgeon was good and to go ahead and have the surgery. Since having the surgery I have heard many negative things abut the surgeon that did my surgery. Please give your body time to heal. I waited for 6 months but wish now that I had waited longer and tried physical therapy or anything except surgery!

An update you on my operation, which happened on Tuesday.

In my second operation, the surgeon planned a laminectomy to relieve pressure on my spinal chord (last time they just cut disc away), the consultant found a big chunk of disc pressing on my spinal chord (which explains why I was getting worse rather than better) so cut that away the offending chunk of disc, as well as the bone. 

I’m feeling much better than after last operation. I think some of it was down to him inserting a drain tube in my back, which was painful and kept getting in the way, but I think it made a big difference, as most of the blood, which would have taken an age to disperse without the drain, was collected via the tube and discarded.

Still got some numbness in my feet, but I know that can take a number of months to get back full feeling, but I have to say, I'm happy with the progress so far only 4 days later.

 

I hope the surgeon is correct. I had a radical laminectomy and a partial laminectomy at L-4 and L-5. On April 1 2016. I woke from surgery thinking I could dance out of the hospital. I was shocked when the 3 am nurse came in and said I had a fever. I ran fever all the next day and finally got home 3 days later. I was sore but quiet impressed. I went to the doctor a week later telling him that I was impressed. The next week I saw the doctor again still impressed but I questioned the numbness in my big toe. He said it was normal. By the time I saw my regular doctor my all my toes were numb. My left leg was also numb. My doctor wants an EMG to see why this has occurred. I may have an EMG but I do not think I want another surgery. Cages and wires just sounds like a medivial torture test. I have an artificial disc that was banned. I hope things get better for you. They say exercise is the best way to progress. 

I’m new to this and had my MD surgery 3 weeks ago. I have been dealing with this for a year. I still have hip pain and this scared me because I thought right after the surgery my symptoms will be gone. 

Hi Michelle.

I have had 2 back surgeries. The 1st one was for Sciatica and it was amazing i came out with no pain and renewed my normal life within a week. was playing golf 4 months later. 2 years and no issues then my left foot and toes went numb went back to the same doc and had a 2nd surgeries mo difference in the numbness and weakness in my left leg. The suggestion was now a fusion. i decided against it and have been going to PT for the past 9 months.leg strength has improved the the numbness and the feeling is awful. Can't walk for long. Hope you get better.

Hey Michelle, I had a second double discectomy from my L4/L5 and L5/S1 discs. After my first double Discectomy, I had residual pain for about 5 years after my surgery. it was not a horrible pain like before, maybe a 1-2 dual pain that would come and go depending on what I would be doing. after about 5 years though, the pain did go away altogether. that is probably how I got back into the mess that I am in now. you see, once the pain that connected you to the herniation is gone, you can sometimes push yourself to far without thinking. Its been 5 years since you posted this comment, so I hope you are free from pain and proprioception but always remember that your damaged disc is apart of you now and you have to protect it (I say proprioception instead of numbness because that is what you are feeling. look up the definition of both so you can understand). Deal is that its much worse the second time around (i know from experience) so as much as you want your life to go back to the way it was before, you''ll only have a perception of it at best and when you do, you will fall into the same habits you were in before and you could be right back where you started, with the constant pain, "numbness", and weakness that nobody wants.